Attachment for hair clippers



1959 E. w. CLARK ATTACHMENT FOR HAIR CLIPPERS Filed March 20, 1958 L1 INVENTUR.

United States Patent ATTACHMENT FOR HAIR CLIPPERS Earl w. Clark, Stuart, Fla. I Application March 20, 1958, Serial No. 722,756 6 Claims. (Cl. 30Z01) This invention relates to an improvement in comb attachments for electric clippers.

One object of my invention is to provide anattachment whereby one can with this one comb and an electric clipper do practically all of the hair cutting operations necessary to produce a satisfactory hair cut. Another object is to provide a comb that may be securely fastened to the stationary cutting blade of a clipper and also one that may be adjusted forward and backward and also skewed. A further object is to provide a comb whereby the ends of the teeth of said comb may be retracted to a position back of the cutting edges of said blade and also whereby the ends of the comb teeth on either one or the other side of the comb may be positioned back of the cutting edges while the teeth on the opposite side may extend beyond or in front of the cutting edges.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my attachment in place on the stationary blade of a clipper and it shows a fragmentary elevation of the clipper housing, and it also shows by dotted and by dot and dash lines a few of the positions which the comb may assume.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a comb supporting frame member.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a comb supporting frame mem ber in place on the stationary blade and the comb in one of its partially retracted and skewed positions.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the bottom side of a modified stationary clipper blade with the back end of the blade extended to provide a support for the comb and for the means for clamping said comb to the blade.

In my drawing: In Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 which show my attachment applied to ordinary existing clippers, 1 is the clipper housing, 2 is the reciprocating cutting blade and 3 is the stationary cutting blade, 4 is the frame member to which the nylon comb S is clamped in its various positions by screw 6. The frame member 4 is made of thin spring steel or brass and it is attached to blade 3 by means of two turned down hooks 4a at the cutting end of blade 3 and by two channel shaped members 4b which i V are arranged to make sliding contact with the sides of blade 3 back of the reciprocating blade 2. A plate or bar 4c is provided on frame member 4 and this bar 40 is tapped for comb clamping screw 6 and the two screws 9 which when tightened bear against the back of blade 3 and pull the books 411 tightly against the forward or cutting end of blade 3. The two hooks 4a and the two channel shaped members 4!: thus clamp the frame memher 4 securely to blade 3. When placing frame mem;

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her 4 on blade 3, the frame member 4 is slipped on to the blade 3 and moved forward until the hooks 4a snap into place. The screws 9 are then tightened and the hooks 4a will engage the forward end of blade 3. The outside teeth on blade 3 are about inch wide at the front end and the hooks 4a are about inch wide and these hooks thus will not interfere with the teeth on blade 3 and no part of blade 2 can touch frame member 4.

The nylon comb 5 is adjustable backward and forward as indicated by the dotted and by the dot and dash lines which are designated by dotted figures 5 and 5c in Fig. 1 by means of longitudinal slot 5a in comb 5 and by clamping screw 6. The comb 5 may also be skewed with respect to blade 3 and then the ends of the comb teeth brought to a central position as shown in Fig. 4 by means of sidewise extensions 5b to the longitudinal slot 511. The ends of the teeth 50 on comb 5 may thus on one side of the comb be brought back of the cutting edges of blade 3 while the ends of the teeth on the other side of the comb may extend forwardly beyond the cutting edges of blade 3 as shown in Fig. 4. The comb can be moved further forward than shown in Fig. 4 and then skewed and the teeth ends brought to a central position by means of sidewise extensions 5b.

Since the ends of the comb teeth can be brought to a position well back of the cutting edges of blade 3 to the dotted position shown by dotted 5c in Fig. 1, the clipper ordinarily will cut the hair sufiiciently close with the comb in this retracted position so that ordinarily comb 5 need not be removed during the whole hair cutting operation.

In Fig. 4 I show the washer 11 under nut 6 made relatively wide so as to permit the slot 5a to be widened so that the comb 5 may be moved sideways and still be clamped firmly in a selected position.

When cutting and tapering the hair on the back and sides ofrthe head up to the long hair line with my attachment the clipper should be moved in the direction of the arrow on the drawing. The stray hairs on the neck are first cut up to the beginning of the natural hair line with the comb retracted or removed. The comb 5 is then brought to the position shown by the full lines in Fig. 1 and an upward cut or round of about 1 to /2 inch is made around the back and sides of the head in a series of short upward cuts. The comb in this position will cut hairs to a length of about /8 inch that is will permit the hairs to be cut to this length. Marks 5e are provided on the comb for setting the comb for cutting the hair at different lengths and these marks are to be brought even with the end of hook 4a. Next the comb is moved out to the third mark where the comb will permit the hair to be cut to a length of about inch and a round of upward cutting is made as before. These rounds are continued, setting the comb out two spaces each round until the long hairs are reached near the top of the head. This, I find, generally occurs at the seventh or ninth mark. From actual experience in manufacturing, demonstrat ng and selling comb attachments I find that the inch cutting steps will produce a satisfactory taper to the hair. The hair shouldbe combed down very frequently during the hair cutting operation and my comb, I find,- can be used for this purpose as it is securely fastened to the clipper.

The long hair may be shortened at the long hair l ne by the amount of growth between cuttings by setting the comb on the tenth mark and bringing the clipper up against the ends of the long hairs in a series of short upward cuts.

In my Fig. 4 I show the comb 5 positioned so that the ends of the teeth on one side of the comb are retracted to a position back of the cutting edges and also skewed so that the teeth on the other side are positioned in advance of the cutting edges. This position will warp the comb slightly but the nylon comb is flexible so it can be warped slightly. With the comb in this position, one can readily take a finishing and tapering cut around the cars by keeping that side of the blade 3 where the teeth are back of the cutting edges close up to the cars as one works around same. The thin frame member 4 will then contact the scalp at 4a and the clipper will cut the hair very close to the scalp next to the ears. While that portion of the comb which extends in advance of the cutting edges will keep the blade 3 at that point further away from the scalp than at the other side, since the comb teeth are wedge shaped, and the clipper then will make a tapering cut around the ears, the hair being cut longer as the distance from the ears increases. A tapering cut of this character can only be made where the hair is short, because where the hair is long you must move the clipper against the direction in which it lays in order to cut it. This is pointed out in all instruction books. A comb moved crosswise with respect to the direction in which the hair lays will push the hair away from the cutters instead of letting it enter same. Ridges or uneven tapering of the hair, I have observed, generally occur around the ears, and these ridges may readily be removed with comb 5 in the pos'tion shown in Fig. 4. Ridges probably occur around the ears most often because they interfere somewhat with the hair cutting operation.

In Fig. 5 I show a stationary cutting blade 7. This blade is the same as a standard blade excepting that the back end of same is extended and provided with one or more tapped holes 7a for screw 6. With a blade so made the frame member 4 will not be needed and comb- 5 is clamped directly to blade 7 by screw 6. Screws 8 clamp blade 7 to the lower half of the clipper housing 1 shown in Fig. 1. Dot and dash line 10 indicates the normal back end of a stationary blade.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a comb used in combination with hair clippers and adapted to be supported and positioned on said clipper and located on the stationary blade side of the cutting blades of said clipper and wherein the comb is used to lift the hairs from the scalp in advance of the cutting surfaces of said blades and is also used to control the length at which the hairs are cut during the hair cutting operation, said comb comprising, wedge shaped teeth that are thinner, in a plane normal to the plane of the contacting cutting surface of said blade, at the front' than at the back, the cutting surface of said blade being considered the front, and said teeth having their length extending in a forward and backward direction, a longi tudinal slot for positioning said comb located back of said teeth and sidewise extensions to said slot being located on each side of the center line of said slot.

2. In a comb used in combination with hair clippers and adapted to be supported and positioned on said clipper and located on the stationary blade side of the cutting blades of said clipper and wherein the comb is used to aid in controlling the length at which the hair is cut, said comb comprising, a plurality of comb teeth normally having their length extending, when on said clipper, in a forward and backward direction, the cutting edges of said blade being considered the front, and the backs of said teeth being inclined so that the backs are nearer to the plane of the cutting surfaces of the clipper blades at the front than at the back, a longitudinal slot located back of said teeth for adjusting said comb in a forward and backward direction, and sidewise extensions to said longitudinal slot being located on each side of same for adjusting said comb in a sidewise direction.

3. In an attachment for conventional hair clippers wherein a comb member is used to aid in controlling the length at which the hair is cut, the combination of, a supporting member for said comb on the back of the stationary blade of said clipper, a comb clamping and guiding screw engaging said supporting member for clamping said comb to said supporting member, a longitudinal slot in said comb member located back of and substantially parallel to the teeth of said comb member cooperating with said screw for adjusting and clamping said comb member with respect to the line of cut of the cutting blades of said clipper, slots in said comb member extending in a sidewise direction and connected with and located on each side of said longitudinal slot, wherein said sidewise slots cooperating with said screw permit said comb member to be moved in a sidewise direction with respect to said screw and wherein the entire comb member may be moved bodly sidewise. without pivoting said comb member on said screw.

4. In an attachment for conventional hair clippers wherein a comb is used to aid in controlling the length at which the hair is cut, and wherein the backs of the teeth of said comb are inclined with respect to the plane of the contacting cutting surfaces of the blades of said clippers, and wherein the backs of said teeth normally contact the scalp during the hair cutting operation, and wherein the said comb is adjustably mounted on said clipper for movement with respect to the cutting edges of said blades, and wherein the clipper is normally moved, during the hair cutting operation, in a direction against the direction in which the hair lays or grows, the combination of, a comb supporting and clamping surface on the back of the stationary blade of said clippers, a comb adjustably mounted on said surface, a longitudinal slot in said comb structure and located back of the comb teeth, sidewise extending slots located on each side of said longitudinal slot, comb clamping means carried by said comb supporting surface for clamping said comb to said surface, said longitudinal and sidewise slots and said comb clamping means cooperating to permit the longitudinal and sidewise and pivotal moving and clamping of sad comb on said comb supporting and clamping surface in any selected position and to permit the ends of the comb teeth to be brought substantially central to the said blades for any selected comb position.

5. In an attachment for conventional hair clippers wherein a comb, independent of the cutting blades of said clippers, is used to aid in controlling the length at which the hair is cut, the combination of, a conventional clippers, a comb support on said clippers, a comb clamping means carried by said support, a comb having a plurality of teeth and adapted to be carried and supported by said comb support, longitudinal slot means in said comb structure and located back of and substantially parallel to said teeth, and additional slot means in said comb structure located on each side of and connected to said longitudinal slot means, both of said slot means cooperating with said comb clamping means to clamp said comb to said support in any selected position, whereby said comb may be moved forward and backward with respect to the cutting edges of said clippers and pivoted about said clamping means and also moved bodily sidewise with respect to said clamp ng means to bring the ends of the teeth of said comb for any selected position central with said blades.

6. In an attachment for conventional hair clippers of the type described wherein a comb member, independent of the cutting blades of sad clippers, is used to aid in controlling the length at which the hair is cut, the combination of, a conventional clipper, a comb supporting and clamping surface located back of the cutting edges of the clipper blades and attached to said clipper, a single centrally located comb clamping, guiding and pivoting means carried by said comb supporting surface, a 2,517,999 Giorgi Aug. 8, 1950 comb member having a forward portion comprising a 2,617,188 Giorgi Nov. 11, 1952 plurality of comb teeth and a back portion adapted to 2,618,060 Giorgi Nov. 18, 1952 rest on and be clamped to said supporting surface by said 2,722,741 McAulifie Nov. 8, 1955 means, a centrally located longitudinal slot substantially 5 2,778,106 Hazelquist J an. 22, 1957 parallel to the teeth of said comb and located in said back 2,802,263 Marchner Aug. 13, 1957 portion, said longitudinal solt being closed at both ends and having sidewise slot extensions in the sides thereof. R G PATENTS Reeeeeeeee Ceeee in we e ee ehie eeeeee 10 744,332 S5222%;?;i;':::::::::'s;571?f 13% UNITED STATES PATENTS 470,375 Germany Jan. 12, 1929 1,214,430 Cook Ian. 30, 1917 

